I admit that I struggle with humility, both in living it and understanding it. Often, I talk to my confessor about my struggles with humility. During one conversation with him, he asked me if I had ever prayed the Litany of Humility. When I said I wasn’t familiar with it, he told me to check it out.
The first time I prayed the Litany I was shaken to the core. I thought “Oh my, can I really say these words and mean them?” Yet, the more I prayed the Litany, the more I understood. Praying this Litany has forever impacted my spiritual journey. May it be a blessing for you.
The Litany of Humility
O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus. (repeat after each line)
From the desire of being loved…
From the desire of being extolled …
From the desire of being honored …
From the desire of being praised …
From the desire of being preferred to others…
From the desire of being consulted …
From the desire of being approved …
From the fear of being humiliated …
From the fear of being despised…
From the fear of suffering rebukes …
From the fear of being calumniated …
From the fear of being forgotten …
From the fear of being ridiculed …
From the fear of being wronged …
From the fear of being suspected …
That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. (repeat after each line)
That others may be esteemed more than I …
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease …
That others may be chosen and I set aside …
That others may be praised and I unnoticed …
That others may be preferred to me in everything…
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…
– Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val (1865-1930)
